4-axis rd. 2

4-axis rd. 2

I’m thinking of making a lamp – and with the 4-axis, now I have the opportunity to make a custom base for it. I had a piece of 1/2″ thick walnut that would make a great testing ground. Ideally after getting the part just the way I want it, I’d like to use a thicker piece, but for now this is a great test.

I made a simple curved profile, and swept it around to create a natural looking curved base. A 1/2″ brass tube will sit in a notch in the center.

Loaded up into SRP Player and added tabs. I wasn’t too worried about these tabs as I could just sand them off afterwards.

After ensuring my job wouldn’t be crazy long, I got my part dimensions.

Then cut a piece of 1/2″ walnut to size

Found the center to sit in the 4-axis…

Loaded up my bit.

And started milling. I used two bits, a 1/4″ square for roughing, and a 1/4″ rounded bit for finishing to get really smooth curves.

I took it to the band saw and took off the tabs. Then sanded the tabs down.

It’s not perfect, I need to make the center hole a tiny bit wider to actually fit the 1/2″ pipe. A 1/2″ peg does not fit into a 1/2″ hole. I should’ve known that, but I overlooked it. I also need to make the curve a little gentler so there’s more material surrounding the tube. On this iteration there wasn’t enough material there, so the tiny lip left behind got a bit chewed up.